Doctor Frustration, Lucky Charms, and Paying to Live Longer
Doctor frustration: “I’m at the office late every night taking care of mindless paperwork, just so the insurance companies can deny payment.”
Do lucky charms improve performance? Sometimes.
Is an adopted child like a used car? Does the adoption agency have a duty to reveal all defects?
Would you pay $93,000 to live four more months? If you have prostate cancer, you may get that chance.
My mom was adopted as an infant over 60 years ago. She was born to an unwed mother, and was later reunited with her real parents. The irony is that her adopted family was not the happy couple experiencing fertility issues and hoping to give one lucky kid a chance.
Both my mom and her adopted brother have suffered for years because of the way they were raised, and it’s really amazing that they are as normal as they are now. I’m sure the law back then was not as stringent, but my mother would have been much better off had the stigma not existed around unwed mothers. Her biological family has its own problems, but on the whole it was a much more loving family.
Doctors: We’ve got a personal friend who is a young doctor and spends his evenings doing the exact same thing. His wife hates it. He hates it, and although it’s not enough to get him to quit, we can tell that it wears on him.
If more and more doctors called it quits because of paperwork, I bet we’d see a huge change in the system.
The frustration doctors feel is undoubtedly immense — dealing with paperwork makes their lives miserable and wastes time that could be spent on patient care. However, few physicians seem willing to take the necessary steps to jump off the merry-go-round. All they would have to do is post signs in their waiting rooms explaining that they work for patients rather than third-party insurers, health plans or government payers. As a result, patients should be prepared to pay their bills at time of service.
Some doctors have done this; or created other innovative practice designs. However, there is one fact that frustrated doctors cannot ignore. Their choice is either to deal with third-parties; or compete for patients on price. There is no third choice that involves third-parties paying all bills without question. If services are not rationed by price where patients make decisions, then it will be rationing by third-parties making it difficult to bill for services or refuse to cover certain treatments altogether.
I specifically sought out a doc who will let me pay a reasonable amount and just leave the insurance out of it unless the issue becomes catastrophic. That keeps me out of government databases, is less trouble for the doc, and less expensive for me.
I think the answer on adoption is “yes”. The adoption agency does have a duty to disclose everything.
It’s hard for me to believe that a lucky charm can improve permormance. Are you saying that magic works? Or is it that a belief in magic works?
All I can say is that I am glad I am not a medical doctor.